Our hearts are with the people and wildlife of Northern Minnesota affected by the devastating wildfires burning across the Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The BWCAW is temporarily closed to protect visitors while firefighters and public safety officials respond to the active fires. We are in awe of the eight brave rangers who are leading the response, paddling across thousands of acres and visiting hundreds of campsites to notify campers, and in some cases manage rescues.
The burning of oil, gas and coal makes summers like this more frequent and severe.
Now Minnesota communities are being hit with hazardous air quality while smoke from the fires blow across our state. Breathing in wildfire smoke is dangerous, especially for children, older adults and people with medical conditions such as asthma or COPD.
These climate fueled disasters bring home the need to act. We have everything we need to make different choices and to build a better world. For one, the way we power our lives doesn’t have to come at such heartbreaking costs as Sierra Club member and lead volunteer Satish Desai wrote this week.
Stay safe and stay connected.
Margaret Levin
Chapter Director
Please consider taking steps to avoid or reduce your exposure to wildfire smoke:
- Stay indoors if possible
- Close windows and doors, covering any drafty places with a damp towel or sheet.
- Run an air filter in your most used indoor spaces. Taping a furnace filter to a box fan does the job.
- Avoid burning anything in your home like candles, incense and gas stoves.
- If you need to venture outdoors
- Wear a tight fitting N95 mask or respirator.
- Kids can and should wear them, too!
- Care for your pets
- Keep animals indoors as much as possible. Animals are affected by the smoke, too.
- Provide clean water often.
- Monitor for signs of respiratory distress.
- Check in with your neighbors
- Call, text and knock on your neighbors’ doors, especially older folks, families with young kids, households with outdoor pets, and neighbors with known medical conditions to share information and offer support.
- Offer to help with a grocery run or give a ride to the local library – anything to reduce smoke exposure to our most vulnerable community members.
Overall, avoid strenuous physical activity and drink plenty of water. In case of evacuation or immediate danger to your health, make sure you have a plan in place for you and your household.
For official updates, please visit these sites:
- Superior National Forest
- Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: Air Quality Alerts
- Purple Air Map